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ISSN 2305-8269
Abstract
Growing demand to drill High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) wells requires improved technology to
overcome the HPHT challenges. The case studies of the Montara well blowout 2009 and Gulf of Mexico 2010
showed that one of the main contributing factors to the failure was the substandard cement job. During the 2012
HPHT Wells Summit, HPHT professionals were surveyed about the most critical technology gaps in the HPHT
operations. Cement Design was reported to be the third most concerning technology gap for the HPHT operations
(15%). Other areas of their concerns are shown in Figure 1. A similar survey of the HPHT professionals that had
been conducted two years earlier in the 2010 HPHT Wells Summit reported that the Cement Design as the biggest
technology gaps for HPHT operations (Figure 2).
Where do you think the biggest technology
gaps are in HPHT operations?
Seals
6%4%
8%
23%
12%
16%
15%
16%
Other
8% 4%
Testing
8%
Safety
Measures
Cement design
and formation
Polymers and
metallurgy
Casing
34%
8%
12%
12%
14%
Polymers and
metallurgy
Testing Facilities
Tubulars
Tubulars
Other
Casing
This paper provides a review of some of the best practices and case studies in the area of HPHT cementing. It
elaborates on the design, execution and evaluation of the cementing operations. It also examines some crucial
problems in HPHT cementing and provides some Recommendations and Conclusion.
Keywords: High Pressure high Temperature, cement design, MWD/LWD tools temperature limitation, and seismic
resolution
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Introduction
During the past decade, the number of HPHT projects
has increased. The main HPHT areas are found in the
United States (Gulf of Mexico), Indonesia, North
Sea, Norwegian Sea and Thailand. Some of the
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Design
Class
Depth (ft.)
Temperature (F)
Purpose
Properties
0 6,000
80 - 170
0 6,000
80 - 170
0 6,000
80 - 170
6,000 10,000
170 290
10,000 14,000
170 290
10,000 14,000
230 320
G
H
All depths
All depths
All depths
>230
MSR and
HSR
O, MSR,
HSR
MSR and
HSR
HSR
O: Ordinary, M: Medium, H: High, O: Ordinary, S: Sulfate, R: Resistance, E: Early, TT: Thickening Time
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Compressive Strength
(MPa)
50
1
2
3
4
40
30
20
10
0
10
1
0.1
1
2
3
4
0.01
0.001
0
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50
40
30
20
10
0
0
Class J Cement
Class J cements was developed in the early 1970s for
cementing wells with static temperatures above
260F (Maravilla 1974, Degouy and Martin 1993,
Bensted 1995). Class J cements is like Portland
cement; its a calcium silicate material but with no
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600
500
400
300
200
Material
100
Ilmentie
Hematite
Barite
Manganese
tetraoxide
0
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
Pressure (psi)
Figure 6. Effect of pressure on pumpability of cement
API class H with 0.3% retarder, 200F BHCT (Smith 1976)
Specific
Gravity
Absolute
Volume
(gal/lbm)
4.45
4.95
4.33
0.027
0.024
0.028
4.84
0.025
Color
Black
Red
White
Reddish
brown
Additional
Water
Requirement
(gal/lbm)
0.00
0.0023
0.024
0.0011
Weighting Agent
slurries
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50
1
2
3
4
40
30
50
1
2
3
4
40
30
20
10
0
0
6
9
12 15 18
Curing Time (months)
21
24
100
Water Permeability (md)
20
10
0
0
12
15
18
21
24
10
1
2
3
4
0.1
0.01
0.001
0
6
9
12
Curing Time (months)
15
0.1
1
2
3
4
0.01
0.001
0
12
15
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Expanding Additive
Besides proper cement placement in the annulus,
strong cement-casing support and right zonal
isolation are most important. One way to achieve
strong cement bond between casing cement and
formation is by adding expanding additive. Cement
containing Manganese Oxide (MgO) provides
excellent expansive performance at curing
temperatures as high as 550F and at temperature
below 140F the hydration proceeds very slowly
(Saidin at el. 2008). The presence of the expanding
additives MgO would increase the number of matrix
in cement and, with hydration process, could cause
better expending in cement. Burning temperature is
the temperature at which MgO is burnt and
conditioning temperature is the temperature at which
it is conditioned, like temperatures in the wellbore
(Rubiandin 2000). Figure 9 shows class G cement
containing 1% BWOC MgO. It shows that amount of
the expansion increases with increasing in
temperature.
500 F
300 F
200 F
175 F
0.0125
0
14
21
28
35
0
42
0.01
mud-water-cement
0.0075
mud-spacer-cement
0.005
0.0025
0
32
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182
Temperature (F)
Figure 10. Effect of temperature and fluid sequence
upon dynamic fluid loss rates (Nelson, 2006)
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Too much fluid loss may provide space for the gas to
get into the cement slurry in the annulus. Fluid Loss
agent are used to prevent early slurry dehydration for
HPHT cementing operation. The design criteria for
fluid loss control are linked to dynamic filtration
rather than static filtration. Maximum fluid loss rates
for oil wells are 200 ml per 30 minutes and 50 ml per
30 minutes for gas wells (Hartig et al. 1983).
Christian et al. 1976 and Frittella, Babbo and Muffo
2009 mentioned that the limit for fluid loss is 50 ml
per 30 minutes. Another study by Dillenbeck and
Smith (1997) showed that, for specific gas field, no
fluid-loss is necessary to get a good cement job.
Thixotropic cement slurries can give high fluid loss
rates, though dehydration and bridging must be
considered (Pour and Moghadasi 2007).
Casing Eccentricity
Generally, 70% standoff is considered as the
minimum requirement to have good cement bond;
casing need to be kept at the center of the wellbore.
For centralizer near the shoe, 75% standoff is too
high. The ideal wellbore is free or at least 1.5in wide
washout; a result of imperfect borehole making, the
casing would not be in the center of the open hole.
Fluids will naturally flow more readily on the wider
side of the annulus. Maintaining above 67 % standoff
casing centralization as per API standard was an
early guideline to facilitate the displacement process.
Good survey and four arms caliper are recommended
to determine a proper centralizer placement in critical
wells.
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Laboratory Test
Stand
Off (%)
80
60
40
20
Slurry Test
Spacer Test
LABORATORY TEST
Temperature
- Highest Simulated BHCT
- Variation of retarder and temperature
Pressure
Actual BHP (for thickening time)
Compressive
At Top of Liner condition:
Strength
- Simulated temperature and pressure
- Lowest simulated BHCT (with longest thermal
recovery)
- UCA set for simulated temperature and actual BHCT
Mixing
- Order of addition
- Time taken to add
- Holding of mix water
- Time to mix at surface
- Surface mixing temperature / shear effect
Slurry Stability
- Sedimentation test
- HPHT rheology
Fluid Loss
- Reduce chance of dehydration
- Synergistically shorten the transition time for
improved resistance of gas migration.
Compatibility
Between drilling fluid and cement slurry
Water wet ability Surfactant addition
Stability
- High temperatures
- Variable rheology (to allow efficient mud removal
without raising ECD)
Table 4. Slurry and spacer test guidelines (North, Brangetto and Gray 2000)
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Execution
Quality Analysis (QA) & Quality Control (QC)
OA / QC of cement bulk that is used and a good
record, such as documenting the batch number for
each additive, are essential. Sensitivity of chemical
behavior should be tested in laboratory using the
actual mixing water and temperature. Additional
chemicals that are tested in the lab must be similar to
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1550
1535
1520
1505
1490
1475
1460
32
82
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232
282
Temperature (F)
Figure 13. Effect of temperature on velocity of sound
through water at 3,200 psi
Evaluation
CBL and VDL
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Where:
P = hydrostatic pressure changes on column
SGS = static gel strength
L = cement column length
Dh = hole diameter
Dc = casing outside diameter
Gas migration
Worldwide, gas migration is a common problem for
the oil industry, especially in deep gas wells. In Gulf
of Mexico, more than 80% of the wells encounter a
gas transmitted to surface at trough cemented casing
(Yetunde and Ogbonna, 2011). It is very important to
control the flow after cementing for deeper high
pressure oil and gas wells; gas could invade and
migrate through the cement matrix during waiting on
cement time (Pour and Monghadasi 2007). Flowing
hydrocarbons from tight formation or casing
contraction during switchover from displacement
fluid to sea completion fluid could create micro
annuli. In Shearwater field, Central North Sea,
Central Graben, during switchover operation, internal
casing pressure was reduced by 7,800 psi. Gas
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Treatment
Lost circulation problems can occur while drilling or
cementing in HPHT wells and it can be expensive
and time consuming. Lost circulation occurs by
natural or induced mechanisms. Lost Circulation is
divided into several categories: unconsolidated
formations, high permeable or low pressure
formations (depleted zones), natural fractures, induce
vertical or horizontal fractures, and cavernous and
vugular formations (limestone or dolomite
formations). Severity classification for lost
circulation is shown in Table 5. Losses location
should be determined accurately; lost circulation
materials and techniques must match the type and
severity of the loss zone. Data records from previous
lost circulation history often point out the way to an
effective solution.
Type of Losses
Severity (bbl/hr)
Seepage minor
Partial medium
Severe massive
Total - complete
< 10
10 to 100
100 to 500
Unable to keep the hole full
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Casing Collapse
In HPHT wells casing collapse probability is present.
Cement sheath not only provides zonal isolation but
also supports casing and increase casing collapse
resistance. In HPHT gas wells, the differential
pressure between the formation and the casing is
larger than that in normal wells, which introduces
greater challenges to casing integrity. Reducing
cement Youngs modulus will reduce cement
maximum von Mises stress and increase cement
maximum shear stress. Modified cement Youngs
modulus could prevent cement shear failure.
Maximum von Mises stress difference is only 0.27%
for 0.3 inch casing eccentricity; it doesnt have much
effect on casing and cement. Stress in a casing under
elastic cement is 12% lower than the stress in a
casing under brittle cement (Yuan and Schubert
2012).
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Environmental Restrictions
UK sector of the North Sea complies with
governmental regulations that characterize materials
by their volumes to be discharged to the sea.
Cementing materials are categorized from A to E.
Discharge of category A materials is strictly limited
while category E discharge is not restricted. Most of
the materials that fall under category E could achieve
high performance while complying with the
environmental regulation (North and Gray 2000).
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2.
3.
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4.
5.
6.
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Acknowledgment
This publication was made possible by the NPRP
award [NPRP 09-489-2-182] from the Qatar National
Research Fund (a member of The Qatar Foundation).
The statements made herein are solely the
responsibility of the authors.
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